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CNN Live At Daybreak

Target: Terrorism: Interview of Phoenix, Arizona, Mayor Skip Rimsza on World Series

Aired October 26, 2001 - 07:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The National League pendant is flying over the Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix for the very first time. But hanging over the park is the question of security for baseball's ultimate event.

Game one of the World Series starts tomorrow in Phoenix, and some 50,000 fans are expected to file into the Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium as they take on the New York Yankees.

And as CNN's Thelma Gutierrez tells us, regardless of what happens on the field, these games will be like no other.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the biggest American sporting events, the World Series, where tens of thousands of fans will gather in one place at one time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Souvenirs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Programs here.

GUTIERREZ: But this year, everything is different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think 9/11 will never be dismissed from any of our minds.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): On Saturday, the first game of the World Series will be played here in Phoenix, Arizona, a city now facing some of the toughest security challenges ever.

(voice-over): The Arizona Diamondbacks will take on the reigning champions, the New York Yankees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're going to get in here and we're not going to be afraid.

GUTIERREZ: As players practice, so do the National Guard, ready to deploy within the stadium in the event of an attack.

Security is tight around the city. Cement barriers protect an entrance to the Bank One Ballpark. Major streets will be closed off. Metal barricades will help to control crowds. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a world stage, and anybody who wants to make an impact, this is where they would do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to think about nonsense like that, and I just want to have a good time, watch the Diamondbacks win.

GUTIERREZ: Inside the stadium, FBI and ATF plainclothes agents will sit among fans in the stands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we've done is establish a command post for fire and medical services that represents eight bike teams coming into the plaza area. We have two hazardous material teams inside the Bank One Ballpark.

GUTIERREZ: The CDC will also send in a team to conduct disease surveillance in hospital emergency rooms.

And how about all those commercial jetliners that fly in and out of Sky Harbor Airport above the ballpark?

Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza says the dome will remain open and the planes will keep on flying. With the world's attention focused on Phoenix, the pressure is on, not only to win, but to ensure the safety of more than 50,000 people each game.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And the security concerns don't seem to be hampering ticket sales. Seats that normally go for anywhere between $1 to $175 are supposedly selling right now for $400 to $3,500, and tickets aren't the only thing, of course, that are costing a lot of money.

Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza joins us this morning.

Delighted to have you with us before the sun comes up there. Thank you so much, and congratulations on your team.

MAYOR SKIP RIMSZA, PHOENIX, ARIZONA: It's a very excited time for our community -- there's no question.

ZAHN: And a very excited time for ours, I might add too. You know, us proud Yankees fans. I have to admit it every now and then.

RIMSZA: I could tell.

ZAHN: We just heard from Thelma a little bit about the kinds of security that you have in place for the CDC and hazmat sites. Is there anything else you want to share with the American public about what message this should send to the rest of the world about how prepared you really are for the World Series?

RIMSZA: We're doing everything we can. I think one of the critical partners in all of this, though, are the actual fans. We think the time is different. One of the things that's going to help us, I think, with dealing with security issues here is the public is very willing to help us out, not only in watching what they bring to the stadium, but at the same time, helping watch the stadium itself. But in the end, we think what will happen is folks will get to the game and just be able to focus on it, because we're feeling pretty good about where we're positioned right now.

ZAHN: Yet obviously, safety has to be foremost on your mind right now. How helpful has the federal government been to you as you made plans to fortify security.

RIMSZA: The federal government has been unbelievable. We really appreciate just what we've gotten from the fed, the FAA; everybody involved in different federal agencies has been very focused on this event, and I think the reasons are obvious. They're concerned because this is America's pastime and this is the beginning of the biggest series of games since the September 11 date.

ZAHN: And you know that your big fans have been lining up and waiting in line for many hours to get these tickets. Yet give us a sense of the kind of conflicted feelings they might have right now as we approach this big game.

RIMSZA: Actually, the fans themselves are just enjoying the day, enjoying the moment. You don't hear the fans themselves talking too much about security, and that's how it should be. It's our job in government to make sure that security is taken care of, and if, frankly, the fans are talking about it, it would be because they didn't feel like we're doing a good job.

I think the fans are pretty comfortable with what we've put in place so far. We've communicated to them quite effectively about what we're doing, and I'm really pleased to see the fans just focusing on the game and the day.

ZAHN: How much is it going to cost to provide the kind of security we've just heard about in great detail in this previous piece?

RIMSZA: Millions -- it's just no question, I think, for Phoenix in the end, the economic boost that the games will give us directly we'll end up spending on additional security. But for us, over the long term, to have this kind of national and global exposure, it will certainly pay off.

ZAHN: And I understand you and Mr. rabid-Yankees-fan Mayor Giuliani have a bet of your own going on. If the Yankees win, what happens to you, Mr. Mayor?

RIMSZA: We have a bet and a challenge. I challenged him, but he's not yet accepted to sing "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" on the steps of his city hall when we win. Now he seems to be afraid of that bet. I've agreed to sing "New York, New York" if he happens to pull it out. We'll have to see if he's willing to take up the challenge.

ZAHN: But wasn't there something that was thrown in at the end? A golf game, a bunch of free golf game someplace? RIMSZA: Yes, we've already agreed on golf in each other's cities for a year. The trouble is what's a golf year in New York -- what's three months?

ZAHN: Oh come on, the weather isn't that bad here. You could scrape together maybe seven months.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Well yes, I knew you'd remind us of that.

Mr. Mayor, best of luck to you.

RIMSZA: Thank you.

ZAHN: Not to your team, but to your city.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: I can't say anything other than that. I'm in a studio full of Yankees fans and two Mets fans, I might add. Again, good luck to you. We'll focus on you, of course, throughout the series. Thanks again for joining us this morning.

RIMSZA: Thank you.

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